SIDNEY — The Council of Religious Education is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a one-day festival Saturday, July 16, on courtsquare, from 1-4 p.m.
Live Christian music will be performed by various church members from Sidney. At 12.30 p.m., Steve Holt, St. John’s Lutheran Church, will kick the afternoon off. He will be followed at 1 p.m., by Mike Nicol, Redeemer Lutheran Church.
At 2 p.m., Gabe, from the Sidney Apostolic Temple, will take the stage. At 2:30 p.m., Charles Williams, Russell Road Church, will be the performer.
At 3 p.m., Josten Carpenter, Jessica Scott, Kelton Moore and Kelly Laber from Celebrate Recovery will perform. To conclude the performances at 3:30 p.m. will be Jonathan and Stephanie Hale, Connection Point Church.
Sound equipment for the performances has been donated by Russell Road Church.
The dunk tank will be manned from 1-3:45 p.m. Taking the “hot seat” will be 1 p.m., Seth Middleton; 1:30 p.m., Mike McRill; 2 p.m., Sheriff Jim Frye; 2:30 p.m., Bryce Stewart; 3 p.m., Arthur Franklin; 3:30 p.m., Jennie Freeman; and 3:45 p.m., Shavon Puckett.
The dunk tank has been donated by Biggins Small Engine Repair.
Various event stations have been planned throughout the afternoon. Those include snacks by the Council of Religious Education; Obstacle Course by the Sidney-Shelby County YMCA; Ring Toss by Katie Robinson of Revive Ohio; Magic Show by Eliana Fink; Cornhole by Nathan Phillips; Face Painting by Jolene Williams; Bubbles by Abby Wagner of Sidney First United Methodist Church; Treats by Dick Dray of Sidney Christian Academy; Ventriloquist by Marcia Beerman of Redeemer Lutheran Church; Cross Craft by Marcia Beerman of Redeemer Lutheran Church; Activity Page by Patti and Randy Moore of Celebrate Recovery; Games by The Salvation Army; Basketball Wagon by Seth Middleton; and Tattoos by Meaningful Life Ministries.
The Council of Religious Education will be giving out door prizes every 30 minutes to those who fill out surveys at its booth.
Any Christian-based organization who would like to participate in the event stations should contact Shavon Puckett at 937-538-8983.
The annual chicken dinner, sponsored by The Council of Religious Education, will also be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The cost of the dinner is $10 and includes half of a chicken or boneless pork chop, roll and butter, applesauce and potato chips.
For the past 100 years, many Sidney area parents have chosen to give their children a spiritual education alongside their normal school education via the “released-time” program put forth by the Council of Religious Education Inc. (CORE) at Sidney City Schools. CORE’s mission since 1921 has been “to reach children throughout Sidney who have not had the opportunity to learn God’s Word” and to reinforce lessons they have learned at home. They have succeeded in their mission for a century now with hopefully many more years to come.
According to CORE President Scott Dorsey, “I believe this program helps to make better citizens in our community. We’ve been in service to the community for 99 years, and there’s a lot of new programs coming up, but we’re still the oldest.”
This year, CORE implemented a new trailer classroom to use along with its mobile unit, one of which is currently serving Emerson Elementary School. Changes throughout school policy, such as its restructuring of the elementary schools, have made it more difficult for CORE to remain a viable aspect of student education. To keep up with the changes, there are now two teachers, Shavon Puckett and Brenda Thompson, who serve in each of the units owned by CORE and now teach the first and second grades at Sidney City Schools.
